Cook says six people initially responded to that fire. He says the national standard is 15 to 17 people.

He says with those six people; two people can enter the structure, two people provide back up, an engineer to run the pump and an overall scene commander.

"That's our six right there. That gives us nothing else to fight a fire that was starting in a neighboring structure or to make a huge difference in what we see behind us," said Cook.

Safety services director Jeff Olson says they have six to nine people go to a fire initially, but there is an opportunity to call for back up. At the house fire on Seerley Boulevard, 14 more people responded after that call for back up was made.

Olson says they have done their research and this staffing works for the city.

"But what advantage we have over those cities is we've got a lot of cross trained people. We've got some cross trained police officers, a couple from public works and that that can come in and help at a moments notice," said Olson.

Olson says they also look at the calls for service.

"And you know we're fortunate in Cedar Falls where we have few fires and our crime rates fairly low," said Olson.